Electric-arc lamp.



' No. 761,379. P'ATENTED YMAYSI, 1904.-

J A HEANY.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP. APPLICATION FILED DEG. 4, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED ST TES Patented. May 31, 1904;

PATENT OFF CE.

- JOHN ALLEN HEANY, or YORK, PENNSYLVANIA,.Assieuon TO THE '-TETER-HEANYDEVELOPINGSCOMPANY, OF CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF WESTVIRGINIA.

ELECTRIC-ARC LAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,379, dated May 31,1904. Application filed December 4,1903. SerialNo. 183,703. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern.-

, Be it known that I, J OHN AL EN HEANY, a citizen of'the United States,residingat York,

in the county of York and State of Pennsyle vania, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Electric-Arc Lamps, of which thefollowing is aspecification.

, .My invention has relation to an electric-arc lamp wherein electrodesare formed of nia- To those skilled in the art it is well known thatcertain substances-such as metallicoxids,

metallic-salts, &c.-are normally non-arcing when used as the electrodesor terminalsfor the current. While such substances with currents of hightension may perhaps when brought close together discharge the current indisrupted arcs or sparks, yet such disrupted arcing or sparking is notuseful in the production of a light such as is emitted from the ordinaryarc-lamp having carbon electrodes. 5 I

. have discovered how these normally non-arcing materials may be broughtto a-condition wherein an arc of appreciable size and continuity can beformed and maintained between electrodes composed of these materials, sothat alight of greater luminosity and sharpness can be obtained at muchless amperage than the amperage required in either the ordinaryincandescent or arc lamp.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide anelectric-arc lamp having electrodes connected directly With theterminals of the current and normally non-arcing combined with meanswhereby an arc may be produced and maintained. between the electrodesunder alow amperage.

The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood fromthe following description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming part hereof, in which Figure l is a sectional Viewillustrating diagrammatlcally an arc-lamp embodying main z with oneterminal of the circuit.

, the circuit.

features of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of amodified, form of electrodes.

resents a hollow plug of, dielectric material,

.surrounded by a screw-cap 7), of metal, having a downwardly-projecting.flange 6', into I -which a globe d is fitted. Within the hollow of theplug a is secured a carbon or graphite resistance 6, connected by ametallic plug 0' The screwcap 6 is connected with the other terminal ofThe electrodes ff of the lamp are respectively connected with theresistance 0 by a divided wire g, the ends of which are Referring toFig. 1 of the drawings, a repconnected by a thermostat it and acontinuous wire c, depending from the screw-cap 6. So faras describedthe parts and the1r arrange ment are comparatively unlmportant andembody merely one of many forms of lamps in which my present inventionmay be embodied or carried out.

In Fig. 1 the electrodes ff 7 are spherical, or substantially so, inshape. In

Fig. 2 the electrodes f f are pencils of the'mamay be used alone;otherwise a binding agent such as a borate, carbonate, phosphate,sulfate, or even boracic acid. should be used. When the electrodes areformed of such nonarcing materials, no appreciable continuous orluminous arc will be produced at ordinary temperatures of the'electrodeswith a current of even a high or relatively high tension, When, however,the electrodes of non-arcing materials are first heated to redness orsub,

stantially to incandescence, an arc of appreciable size andcontinuitywill be formed and maintained between the electrodes when thetension of the current is relatively low and the amperage much less thanis required in the ordinary incandescent or filament lamp. Not only issuch a continuous are formed or maintained, but the luminosity andsharpness of the light is materially greater than that which theincandescent lamp gives under greater consumption of current. One meansof initially heating the electrodes f f or f f may be a spirit-lamp orBunsen burner m, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Another which is notextraneous to the lamp, and therefore preferable, is to incorporate inthe electrodes a highly conductive materialsuch, for instance, asplatinum, gold, iridium,&c.-whieh, as is well known, are good conductorswithin ordinary temperatures. The effect of combining or incorporatingsuch a good conductor with the non-arcing material or. materials is torender suchmaterialor materials a partial conductor or conductor of highresistance. When the electrodes f f or f f touch, as illustrated in thedrawings, the passage of the current through the electrodes f f and f fof high resistance serves almost instantaneously toheat the electrodesto redness or incandescence. By including a resistancee, of graphite orsimilar material, in the circuit the fioW of current to the electrodeswill be regulated inversely to the distance the electrodes are separatedfrom each other to form the arc. The inclusion of a thermostat 72, orequivalent arc-adjusting means in the circuit renders the regulation ofthe size of the are automatic.

Having thus described thenature and'obj'ect of my invention, whatI-claim, broadly, as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

1; In an electric arc lamp, an electrode formed of normally non-arcingmaterial, in combination with an electric circuit, one terminalof whichis connected directly with said electrode, and means for forming andmaintaining an are upon said electrode during the passage of the currenttherethrough.

2. Inan electric-arc lamp,an electrode forming a terminaljfor thecurrent and consisting of material non-arcing at normal temperatures,combined Withmeans for heating said electrode to a temperature at whichan are may be formed and maintained upon said electrode during thepassage of the current therethroughv 3. In an electric-arc lamp, twoelectrodes each formed of normally non-arcing material and each forminga terminal for the current combined with means for forming andmaintaining an are between said electrodes during the passage of currentthrough said electrodes. 4. In an electric-arc lamp, two electrodes eachformed of material non-arcing at normal temperatures and each forming aterminal for the current, combined with means for heating saidelectrodes to a temperature at which an arc may be formed and maintainedbetween said electrodes during the passage of the current therethrough.

5. In an electric-are lamp,an electrode forming a terminal for thecurrent and consisting of an oxid or oxids of the rare metals, combinedwith means for heating said electrode, whereby an arc may be formed andmaintained thereon during the passage of'the current therethrough.

7 6'. In an electric-arc lamp,an electrode forming a terminal for thecurrent and consisting of a material non-arcing at normal temperatures,combined with a good conductor arranged to form with the non-arcingmaterial an electrode of high resistance at normal teming witnesses.

JOHN ALLEN HEANY. Witnesses:

J. WALTER DOUGLASS, THOMAS M. SMITH.

